Pocketed target and net arrangement

ABSTRACT

A ball is provided with the toy which may be bounced against the floor or table on which the toy is located and into the cup. The net provides a backstop for poorly bounced balls. The net is attached to the base by means of supporting wires having pegs at their outermost ends. The pegs are inserted into holes in the base.

United States Patent 1191 Rea July 2, 1974 POCKETED TARGET AND NET1,368,021 2/1921 3,108,808 10/1963 ARRANGEMENT 3,188,087 6/1965Inventor: Harry a, 4667 Camelot 3,430,958 3/1969 Lakeman 273/105 R New91 1 13 19, 201

Filed:

[ May 1, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 356,089

[52] 11.8. CI 273/105 R [51] Int. Cl A63b 71/02 [58] Field of Search273/95 R, 105 R, 108, I15, 273/109,113,127 R [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,208,235 12/1916 Thayer 273/105 R 1,258,9313/1918 Newcombe 273/105 R Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle AssistantExaminer-Marvin Siskind Artomey, Agent, or Firm-Ray 8: Spielman [57]ABSTRACT A ball is provided with the toy which may be bounced againstthe floor or table on which the toy is located and into the cup. The netprovides a backstop for poorly bounced balls. The net is attached to thebase by means of supporting wires having pegs at their outermost ends.The pegs are inserted into holes in the base.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEnJuL 2 mm 3.822 0623 saw 2 or 2 1POCKETED TARGET AND NET ARRANGEMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to a new game apparatus and a game which maybe played therewith. In particular, the invention is concerned with agame apparatus having a base with a cup mounted therein for receipt of abouncing ball.

Games employing bouncing balls are well-known in the art. See US. Pat.Nos. 3,580,578, 3,398,955, 2,247,852, 2,672,345, 2,301,265, 2,126,873,1,258,931, and 719,456. However, the game apparatus disclosed in theprior art fail to contain the novel features and advantages of theapparatus of the present invention.

THE INVENTION The present invention provides atoy which can be used in agame played by one or more people, A ball is provided with the toy whichmay be bounced against the floor or table on which the toy is locatedand into a cup which is an integral part of the apparatus of the presentinvention. 1

The apparatus of the present invention will be more fully understood byreference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 isa perspective partly sectional view of the apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a ball used with the apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed exploded view of the net of the apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a detailed, exploded view of a portion of the net of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the net framework of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the manner in which the apparatus of thepresent invention is used to play a game; 7

FIG. 7 is a partly sectional view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a partly sectional front-plan view of the apparatus of thepresent invention.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 is shown the apparatus of thepresent invention. The apparatus includes a base generally indicated bythe numeral 10 as shown in FIGS. 1, 7 and 8. The base 10 has a generallycircular bottom 12 having connected thereto an upraised curved top 11.Top 11 has mounted in the center thereof a cup 13 which preferably is ahollow cylinder having a closed bottom as can be seen in FIGS. 1, 7 and8.

Top 11 has three holes 14 located around the periphery thereof forreceipt of pegs 16 and 16a. Pegs 16 and 16a are identical in size andshape and are generally cylindrical in shape having tapered end portionsfor ease of insertion into holes 14. Pegs 16 may be made of any suitableresilient or non-resilient material although it is preferred thatresilient material be used such as rubber, or the like.

Pegs 16-16 are connected to front frame 19 which partly supports net 32.Front frame 19 is preferably a continuous wire or other rigid materialwhich has two loops 23 located near the ends thereof and closelyadjacent to pegs 16. Loops 23 are simply bent portions of front frame 19in the shape of a loop. Front frame 19 also has a loop 24 located inthe: approximate middle thereof.

Attached to loops 23 are eyes 28 located on the ends of bottom frame 20.Bottom frame 20 is preferably a continuous piece of wire or other rigidmaterial bent in the form of a semi-circle over which net 32 isstretched.

Connected to loop 24 is support frame 21 which has connected at one endthereof peg 16a. Support frame 21 supports the middle portion of net 32.Clip 30 is also connected to frame 21 adjacent to peg 16a. Clip 30allows bottom frame 20 to be connected rigidly to support frame 21 whenbottom frame 20 is forced between clip 30 and frame 21. It is greatlypreferred that clip 30 be employed rather than rigidly welding orintegrally connecting support frame 21 to bottom frame 20 because clip30 allows the net and frames 19, 20 and 21 to be folded and storedcompactly with base 10 when the game is not in use.

Net 32 is attached to frames 19 and 20 by means of sheaths 33 which fitaround the frames. Frames 19 and 20 are slideably received in sheatlns33.

One possible game that can be played with the apparatus of the presentinvention would include one or more players which are at any desireddistance from the apparatus of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1.The apparatus is placed on the floor, the edge of bottom 12 or base 10is considered the foul line. The object of the game is to bounce therubber ball at least one time in such a manner that the ball falls intothe cup 13 without falling within the foul line prior to entering thecup. When one player bounces the ball into the cup that player getsanother turn and continues until he misses. Once the player misses, theball goes to the next player who then shoots until he misses, and so on.When every player has had a turn, a round has been completed.

When one player properly bounces a certain number of balls, for example1 l or 21, into the cup, the game may be ended and that player hedeclared the winner. A tie game may be declared when two or more playershave a final game score such as l 1 or 21. Elimination of the tie gamecan be had by each tie player having one shot each until one playerobtains a higher score.

A further rule which may be followed is that when one player hasattained a score of 7 before the other player or players have attainedany score, the player with 7 is the winner of the game and the game iscounted as two games rather than one. This rule would apply to the gamein which 1 1 balls in the cup is a winning game. In a game in which 21balls in the cup is a winning game, a score of 1 1 for one player andzero for another player would have the same effect of making the gameworth two games to the player scoring 1 1.

Any method may be used to decide who shoots first, second, and so on inthe first game. Thereafter, and in following games, the person scoring 0when another 1 person has scored 7 or 11 shoots first and in reverseorder of the shooting of the previous game. If no person has scored 0the lowest scorer shoots first, next lowest scorer shoots second, and soon, with the winner of the previous game being last. Eliminationtournaments can be set up where groups of players eliminate each otherand the winners of one group play the winners of the othergroupstodetermine the over-all winner.

Although the game has been described with reference to preferredembodiment, various constructions will become apparent to those skilledin the art and such equivalent constructions are intended to be includedwithin the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A game apparatus comprising base means including a bottom portionmeans and a curved, upraised top portion means having a plurality ofhole means therein for receipt of a plurality of peg means, said holemeans being equal in number to the total number of peg means, said topportion having cup means therein for receipt ofa bouncing ball, netmeans connected to said top portion means of said base means, said netmeans including frame means for holding a net, said frame meansincluding bottom frame means, front frame means, support frame means,said support frame means having peg means connected at one end thereof,said front frame means having peg means connected at both ends thereof.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support frame means isconnected to said front frame means and has clip means connected to oneend thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support frame means isconnected to said front frame means by loop means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bottom frame means is connectedby loop means to said front frame means.

5. A game apparatus comprising in combination; a. base means including atop portion and a bottom portion, said top portion having;

i. a plurality of holes therein for receipt of net means, said holesbeing equal in number to the total number of peg means, and

ii. hole means in the center thereof in which is located cup means forreceipt of a bouncing ball;

b. net means connected to said base means by peg means, said net meansincluding front frame means, bottom frame means and support frame means;

i. said front frame means having peg means located thereon whichconnects said front frame means to said top portion of said base means;

ii. said bottom frame means being connected to said front frame means byloop means;

iii. said support frame means having peg means connected at one endthereof for connecting said support frame means to said top portion ofsaid base means, and clip means located at one end thereof, said supportframe means being connected to said front frame means by loop means; and

c. a net connected to said front frame means, said bottom frame meansand said support frame means by sheath means.

1. A game apparatus comprising base means including a bottom portionmeans and a curved, upraised top portion means having a plurality ofhole means therein for receipt of a plurality of peg means, said holemeans being equal in number to the total number of peg means, said topportion having cup means therein for receipt of a bouncing ball, netmeans connected to said top portion means of said base means, said netmeans including frame means for holding a net, said frame meansincluding bottom frame means, front frame means, support frame means,said support frame means having peg means connected at one end thereof,said front frame means having peg means connected at both ends thereof.2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support frame means isconnected to said front frame means and has clip means connected to oneend thereof.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said support framemeans is connected to said front frame means by loop means.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said bottom frame means is connected byloop means to said front frame means.
 5. A game apparatus comprising incombination; a. base means including a top portion and a bottom portion,said top portion having; i. a plurality of holes therein for receipt ofnet means, said holes being equal in number to the total number of pegmeans, and ii. hole means in the center thereof in which is located cupmeans for receipt of a bouncing ball; b. net means connected to saidbase means by peg means, said net means including front frame means,bottom frame means and support frame means; i. said front frame meanshaving peg means located thereon which connects said front frame meansto said top portion of said base means; ii. said bottom frame meansbeing connected to said front frame means by loop means; iii. saidsupport frame means having peg means connected at one end thereof forconnecting said support frame means to said top portion of said basemeans, and clip means located at one end thereof, said support framemeans being connected to said front frame means by loop means; and c. anet connected to said front frame means, said bottom frame means andsaid support frame means by sheath means.